How to keep your furry friends safe this Easter
With Easter, Sunday upon us here's how to get all the family involved without an emergency trip to the vets...
New data shows that the majority of vets in the UK regularly see dog-owners dashing to their surgeries over the Easter weekend.
A survey by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) has revealed that eight in ten vets working in companion animal practice saw at least one case of chocolate poisoning in the lead up to Easter 2019.
More than half (54%) of these vets had seen three or more cases in this period.
To ensure you're not one of them, we've been getting some top tips from Merseyside Dogs Trust's Clare Rooney on how you can keep your pets safe...
Clare said, "The things that you really shouldn't do with your pets over Easter is to give them any chocolate."
"As tempting as it might be, don't give them any chocolate and also don't leave any chocolate unsupervised."
Even the smallest amount of chocolate could be enough to cause serious health implications for your beloved pets.
Chocolate can be dangerous for all pets, even in the smallest quantity.
However, dogs are particularly susceptible to poisoning due to a chemical called theobromine which is found naturally in cocoa beans.
Theobromine takes a long time to be broken down inside a dog’s digestive system, meaning that even a tiny amount of chocolate can result in toxic levels, especially for smaller dogs and puppies.
Clare added: "If you suspect that your dog has somehow managed to get his paws on some chocolate, the signs that you should look out for is anything such as obvious vomiting and diarrhoea."
"It can also cause them to be excessively thirsty as well as sometimes even overexcitable."
"If they do show any of these signs, or even if they aren't, but you know they've eaten chocolate, your first port of call should always be a vet so get in touch as soon as you can."
How to get them involved
However, it's not all doom and gloom, there are ways to get them involved and treat them safely.
Clare added, "You can keep your dog involved at Easter, you can create your own Easter egg hunt for your dog where you can hide treats in boxes or around the house and you can encourage the dog to sniff them out."
"It's really good fun for the family to do and it keeps your dogs stimulated as well."
"You can either use shop-bought treats or just the standard biscuits that you would normally buy."
"If you want to treat them to some homemade biscuits, there's plenty of recipes on our website, just search for dog treats, you'll and find lots of recipes."